PHOENIX (AP) — A New Mexico woman's plea on social media for help in finding a special hat she lost at a Phoenix airport is garnering thousands of supporters.

Bridget Hughes of Las Cruces, N.M., turned to Facebook after she misplaced her hat Monday while at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. It's not any hat: Hughes says on her page that the floppy, knit brown hat belonged to her mother, who died of breast cancer when Hughes was 7.

The plea posted Tuesday has been shared more than 45,000 times and "liked" by more than 5,000 Facebook users.

Airport spokeswoman Julie Rodriguez says the airport's lost-and-found has received several calls about the hat and there's no need for the public to report it. Airport employees have been working hard to find it.